Last week thousands of protesters converged on Islamabad after a six-day march organised by Pakistani lawyers to press for the immediate restoration of the 60 judges sacked last November by President Musharraf.

The impressive show of strength reflected popular support for Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, the Chief Justice, and the independent-minded judges, but it failed to force Parliament to concede to the demand. Instead, it has intensified political polarisation. Now the issue threatens to wreck the nascent coalition Government that came to power in February.

That Government — made up of an alliance between the Pakistan People’s Party, of the late Benazir Bhutto, and the Pakistan Muslim League (N) faction, led by Nawaz Sharif, another former Prime Minister — cannot agree on how to proceed. The PPP, which leads the coalition, insists on linking the restoration of the judges to wider judicial reforms. The PML (N) sides with the lawyers’ demand for immediate and unconditional reinstatement. The PPP also wants to retain the judges appointed in place of the sacked judges, increasing Supreme Court numbers from 17 to 29. That has been rejected by the PML (N) and the powerful Pakistan Bar Association.

The PPP also has strong reservations over the restoration of Mr Chaudhry. A constitutional package presented by the PPP seeks to reduce the tenure of the Chief Justice to four years — at the moment there is no limit and he can stay in the post until 65. Under the proposed rule Mr Chaudhry would retire immediately after being restored. Pakistan Bar associations reject the proposal saying that it would curb the independence of the judiciary.

On Monday the Pakistan Bar Council called on MPs to reject the package. Rashid Rizvi, a retired High Court judge who presided over the council meeting, said that the legal community would never accept any attempt to curb the independence of the judiciary. “We are of the considered view that the restoration of judiciary of November 2 should be effected through a resolution of national assembly followed by an executive order,” a Bar Council resolution declared.

This has also been endorsed by several retired judges. “The Government is making the issue more complex,” said Saeed uz Zaman Siddiqi, a former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, who was removed by President Musharraf in 2000 after refusing to take a fresh oath of office under a provisional constitutional order.

Now, lawyers have threatened to besiege the Parliament if the judges are not restored by next month. “We will continue our struggle,” Aitzaz Ahsan, president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, says. The next protest march, he says, could be led by Mr Chaudhry. Meanwhile, a Lahore High Court ruling on Monday barring Mr Sharif from standing in an election for Parliament has intensified the call for deposed judges to be restored. Mr Sharif said he did not recognise the legitimacy of the present court and described the decision as politically motivated. Yet the PPP-led Government does not seem prepared to change its position — raising fears of violent confrontation in coming weeks.

The lawyers’ movement, aptly described as the “black coat” revolution, has transformed Pakistan. It galvanised the population around the slogan of “democracy and the rule of law”, changed the country’s political dynamics and resulted in a humiliating defeat for Mr Musharraf’s supporters in the recent elections. Both the PPP and the PNL (N) committed themselves to resolve the issue within a month of forming a new government, but to the disappointment of lawyers this has not happened.

The lawyers have taken the battle back to the streets. In sweltering heat a charged crowd including lawyers in their trademark black coats thronged the main parade ground in front of the Parliament. The main objective of the long march was to besiege the Parliament and force the Government to fulfil its promise of restoring the judges. “Parliament must now respect the sentiments of the people; the people have spoken, and they want the restoration of judges,” declared Mr Ahsan.

The PML (N) took the most important step yet towards outright opposition to the 11-week-old Government by joining the march. Mr Sharif used this platform to vent his anger not only against Mr Musharraf but also launched a veiled attack on the PPP.

The protest, however, ended on a bitter note with lawyers being divided on any course of action. The organisers called off a sit-in in front of the Parliament after reports that some radical Islamist groups in the march planned to resort to violence. The decision has divided the legal community. Worse, it has weakened their efforts for the restoration of judges which they believe essential for the independence of the judiciary as well as the future of democracy.

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